Would CF 5870 fit and be compatible on M17x-R1?

Would CF 5870 fit and be compatible on M17x-R1?

 

the card by self fits , but there is not bios support for it

 

Damn witcher you got a crazy desktop awesome for that 980x mad overclocked. Yeah forget the R1 try to get a replacement or something or sell it and get a R2 you just got to speak to a right rep to get a good discount plus EPP.

 

AFAIK, no one ever got it to work right...

 

so it`s right that the M17xR1 BIOS does NOT support ATI 5870 CF?
I`m asking because I got a really good offer from Dell for ordering 2 ATI 5870.

 

no. it does not.

 

damn! but that`s typical for dell / AW: never tested it....but sell it to a customer and let him find out... strange.

 

There might be a way to tweak the BIOS , but officially - no.

 

if you want to beleve mandrakes opinion there's also a board revision for the 5870 as well. considering they went as far as using low voltage samples to make them work it's not out of the relm of possibility.

 

That theory died when I found out the cards I was testing with were no good. All I know for sure is that the 5870s don't work with the M15x and I would think they would have a better chance working with that system than the M17xR1.

 

Yep, the chances for the extinct R1 to have 5870's are slim to say the least. But I'd still give it a shot. Just like when everyone was rejecting the possibility for RGB LED screens to work with R1
Never say die.

 

I found that in the internet:

Alienware M17x R1
In regards to upgrading to the Ati Radeon Mobility HD 5870 on the Alienware M17x R1, Dell has no plans to qualify and warrant the system with that GPU configuration. But, if as an individual user you want to purchase the card and upgrade it yourself, there is nothing stopping you. We just want to be clear that we are not guaranteeing functionality of the card with the BIOS and driver set. Nor can we warranty any hardware failures that may happen as a result of running the Ati Radeon Mobility HD 5870 in a non-qualified platform. These are the Dell validated video cards:
96RJ4 Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M (Primary)
4WGVV Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M (Secondary with SLI cable)
X648M Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M (Primary)
X203R Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M (Secondary with SLI cable)
G51FX Ati Radeon Mobility HD 4870 (Primary)
NHCHW Ati Radeon Mobility HD 4870 (Secondary with CFX cable)

So that means it might work. Has anyone tried?

It would be no great issue if the cards are not working. In Germany you can return them without any reasons within 14 days.

By the way: in the German Alienware forum there`s a guy that put the 5870 in his M15x succesfully. Temps below 82 °C at a maximum.

 

Didn't Sleey0 put a 5870 in his M15x?

 

The Asus/Clevo samples work in the M15x. Mandrake was specifically referring to the low voltage samples that dell uses being incompatible in the M15x.

has it been specifically tried in the M17x r1? Not to my knowledge. However, the fact that they(the low voltage samples) do not work in the M15x is a strong indication that they won't in the R1. The Clevo/Asus samples might work, but it's all speculation. The Dell statement is a typical community outreach response. Of course they can't stop you. They're just stating that they've never had any intention to try to see if it works themselves. Since they're just trying to put R1 out of sight.

 

so what do you mean? give it a try?
what is the worst thing that could happen?

 

black screen, wont post.. ect. you'd be out a few hundred dollars while you try to resell the 5870s. The clevo/Asus cards have a better chance to work than the low voltage Dell samples, since again, they work in the m15x just fine. however then you would either be forced to try to make cf work or settle for a single 5870, and if that the case, sli 280s are faster

 

The worst that will happen (IMHO) - the system won't post, till you replace the cards with the supported one/s.
In any case, when attempting such a mission, try 1 card first, re-set the BIOS, do a power drain. Then turn it on and see if it posts. If it does post, boot and install the drivers constantly monitoring temps. If at any point some erratic behavior is observed - turn it off and roll back.
Avoid gaming/benching till you verify that the system is working properly, especially the cooling.